In an effort to combat online bullying, Instagram has introduced new features that allow users more control over their accounts.
Under the motto “Fighting online bullying”, Instagram has presented important innovations in its own blog. The changes are intended to improve the general user experience and provide more control options. Users can now decide for themselves who can tag or mention them in comments, captions or stories. It should also now be possible to delete several comments at the same time. This is what the new blog post:
Today we're releasing the fifth edition of our Community Standards Enforcement Report, which tracks our progress on keeping Facebook and Instagram safe. In addition to this report, we're announcing new features that continue our efforts to lead the industry in the fight against online bullying.
Delete multiple comments at once
An important feature is the management of multiple comments at the same time. Up to 25 comments can now be deleted at once - this is how the new feature works:
To enable this feature on iOS, tap a comment, then tap the dotted icon in the top right corner. Select Manage Comments and choose up to 25 comments to delete at once. Tap More Options to block or restrict accounts in bulk. To block or restrict accounts on Android, press and hold a comment, tap the dotted icon, and select Block or Restrict.
More power in interactions
Another particularly important change is in the area of privacy. Users can now decide for themselves who can mention them. The options are "Everyone," "Only people you follow," and "Nobody." Instagram comments on this change as follows:
We've seen that tags and mentions can be used to bully or victimize others, so we're introducing new controls to let you control who can tag or mention you on Instagram. You can choose whether everyone, only the people you follow, or no one should be able to tag or mention you in a comment, caption, or story.
More features to follow
However, today's update will not be the last in the fight against online bullying. The social media giant promises that further changes are to be expected in the comments area. Specifically, this concerns "pinned comments". Users will be able to pin a selected number of comments to the beginning of their post. It remains to be seen when exactly the new function will be available. The test phase is yet to begin. (Photo by Burdun / Bigstockphoto)
